Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu condemned a far-right Israeli security minister's visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in East Jerusalem, calling it "provocative."
"We find the provocative action of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir against the Al-Aqsa mosque unacceptable," the Foreign Ministry quoted minister Çavuşoğlu as telling his Israeli counterpart in a telephone call.
Ben-Gvir's visit Tuesday came just days after he took office with powers over the police, giving his decision to enter the highly sensitive site considerable weight.
Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest place in Islam and the most sacred site to Jews, who refer to the compound as the Temple Mount.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's office confirmed that Çavuşoğlu conveyed Ankara's "concerns."
"Mr. Cohen said Israel is committed to maintaining the status-quo of the site, that this visit does not constitute a change of policy, and that freedom of worship for all religions in Jerusalem will be preserved," his office said.
Türkiye and Israel sealed a rapprochement from a decade of rocky relations by announcing plans to reappoint ambassadors for the first time in four years as a result of a reconciliation process that has been going on since December.
The two regional powers had expelled ambassadors in 2018 over the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
A visit to Türkiye by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in March, followed by visits by both foreign ministers, helped warm relations after more than a decade of tensions.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month also congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his return to power as prime minister, despite a history of personal animosity between the two.
